


o captain, my captain

by atlantisairlock



Series: Hello Operator, Please Give Me Number Nine Nine [4]
Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Kindergarten & Pre-school, Brooklyn Babies, Cute Kids, Ensemble Cast, Fluff, Gen, Team Bonding, Team Dynamics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-28
Updated: 2015-01-28
Packaged: 2018-03-09 10:18:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3245996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atlantisairlock/pseuds/atlantisairlock
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's just another day at kindergarten until they deliver the fridge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	o captain, my captain

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kasuchi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kasuchi/gifts).



It's just another day at kindergarten until they deliver the fridge.

 

 

While the deliverymen are wheeling the dolly into the pantry, Jake runs over to the empty cardboard box lying on its side by the door. His eyes are alight as he whirls around to face his friends, a theatrical grin on his face. "We have a  _box!"_

Everything else is forgotten in lieu of this new discovery. The others head in the direction of their new box, peering at it with curious expressions. It's rectangular-shaped, very long, and sturdy; when Charles tentatively raps on it with his knuckles, it has a good, solid sound. This opens up a world of new possibilities for playtime. 

"This can be a spaceship! Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilisations, to boldly go where no one has gone before!" Jake enthuses, crawling inside the box and singing the Star Trek theme as loudly as possible, Charles humming alongside him.

This is met with a stony glare from Rosa. "Space is just stars and stuff. We should make this a pirate ship. We can have the mast and everything, and sail the seven seas." She folds her arms with a smug smile on her face. "That's cool."

Gina yawns at them as obnoxiously as she can manage. " _Boooooring._ I say it's a time-travelling machine. We can go  _anywhen,_ not just space or the ocean."

At this statement, Amy wrinkles her nose and debates the grammatical soundness of  _anywhen._ "Shouldn't we ask Mr Terry if we can  _have_ the box first?"

There are grudging whines from her four friends, but Amy knows when she's right. Once their teacher is back from the pantry, she goes up to him with a big smile on her face and widens her eyes. "Please, Mr Terry, can we play with the big box that the fridge came in?"

"Of course, Amy. That sounds like a fun idea for playtime. What are you thinking of making it into?"

 _"Spaceship!"_ "No, it's a time-travelling machine!" "It's a  _pirate ship!"_  They all yell over each other, determined to laud their suggestions as the most fitting one to turn their box into. 

"Settle down, children," Mr Terry says soothingly, walking over to the door and picking the carton up in his arms. "Why don't you combine all of your ideas into one?"

All of them pause, look and one another and blink; that idea hasn't even occurred to them. As the door opens for them to run outside into the front yard, box and all, all previous grievances have already been forgotten as they begin to discuss how to turn their box into a time-travelling seaworthy spaceship. 

Playtime is spent doing just that, with the help of trusty scissors, glue, tape and other decorative materials. Rosa drags a fallen branch that's twice her size from across the lawn by sheer force of will, jamming it through the side of the container so it extends upwards just like a pirate ship's mast. Charles puts Scully and Hitchcock to work alongside him making mud pies for all of them, because they can't possibly explore the universe without snacks in between. In a rare show of generosity, Gina sets up her DS inside the box and declares it their control panel; clearing a level of Kwazy Cupcakes will allow them to teleport to another location in space and time. Amy and Jake have a pile of paints, stickers, novelty tape, ribbon and so on between them, and they argue a bit about how they're going to decorate their Time-Travelling Pirate/Space Ship until they finally come to a compromise that involves Jake decorating one side, Amy working on the other, and everyone's handprints going on the top. 

It takes half an hour, but eventually they manage to get their ship done up to perfection. Everyone steps back and gazes upon it in awe and pride at their own abilities, and the finished product.

This is interrupted by Mr Terry calling  _naptime!_ and there are groans of reluctance, but they all trudge back in obediently after he promises that they can play with their ship during recess after they get some sleep. They snuggle up in their sleeping bags and giggle and talk for five minutes until a stern warning from Mr Terry keeps them quiet and they nod off.

 

 

They awaken to Charles' anguished cry, and Jake is out of his sleeping bag like a shot to comfort his best friend. "Charlie! What's wrong?"

He jabs at the window with a distressed frown. "It's  _raining!"_

Amy rubs at her eyes sleepily, about to ask why this is such a tragedy when Rosa answers it for her. "Our box!" 

Instantly it comes to her, and she's filled with a sense of dread. There's no time to waste! Their hard work might be ruined by now! What if their ship is already sodden, soaked through and lost forever?

Jake seems to have had the same idea, and runs out of the room as fast as he can to find Mr Terry, his friends following him hot on his heels. There are tears in Charles' eyes at the thought of losing their ship, and Rosa squeezes his hand reassuringly as they turn the corner, only to run straight into their teacher.

"Mr Terry!" They cry, stopping in their tracks, and he puts his cup of yogurt down on a ledge. "What's wrong, children?"

"Our ship!" Charles gestures in the general direction of the yard. "It's raining, and now it's going to get all wet and it'll be  _ruined!"_

Gina puts her head in her hands, letting out a loud, muffled moan. _"My DS!"_

To their surprise, Mr Terry just chuckles. "Don't worry. While you were asleep, Principal Holt and I brought your ship in to shelter so it wouldn't get rained through. It's in the playroom now, perfectly dry."

This news is met with resounding cheers, and Mr Terry finds himself smothered with hugs before they take off at top speed into the playroom, where, true to Mr Terry's words, their ship is safe and sound.

"Let's explore the universe!" Amy yells. "I want to be captain of the ship!"

"Lookout!" Gina calls, right after Jake declares _Chief Operations Officer_ , going all Star Trek again. 

"Weapons Officer," Rosa shoots Jake a smirk, and Charles drags the bucket of plastic play food over. "Chef!"

"To your stations!" Amy says in an authoritative tone, to the clipped, resounding reply of "aye, aye, captain!"

The rest of the afternoon is spent running away from huge dinosaurs, sailing through the Indian Ocean, searching for aliens on the surface of Jupiter, and so on. It's the best playtime they've ever had, and the  _best_ part about it is, Amy thinks as they're playing gun-toting cowboys in the Wild West, they get to do it all over again tomorrow.  


End file.
